Book Review: Partitions by Amit Majmudar

July 1947. India is torn in two. Violence erupts on both sides
of the new border and waves of refugees flee the carnage and chaos.

Fighting to board the last train to Delhi, six-year-old Hindu
twins Shankar and Keshav are torn from their mother and must begin a terrifying
trek to find her again. A young Sikh girl, Simran Kaur, having escaped the
honourable death planned for her by her father, dreams of a spiritual sanctuary
at the temple of Amritsar. And Ibrahim Masud, a timid doctor driven from his
home, treats all those he finds along the way as he struggles towards the new
state of Pakistan.

This is the story of their journeys across a ravaged land, of
the acts of compassion and cruelty that shape their new lives and their new
nations.

My thoughts:

The first time I came across ‘Partitions’ by Amit Majmudar was
while I was reading about ‘the Ice-Candy Man’ by Bapsi Sidhwa; and after having
read both the books, now I know why the parallels had been drawn. Both the
books are set against the partition of India in 1947. Both the books follow the
changing circumstances of a set of characters before and after the partitions. What
also connect these books are their unusual yet relatively neutral narrators.
The former has been narrated by a spirit; while ‘the Ice-Candy Man’ has been
narrated by a young Parsi girl.

‘Partitions’ is a fictional account of the plight of common
people who were affected during that period in history which is often
remembered for the extent of violence and uprooting of millions of people. The
story has been narrated by the spirit of the twin children’s father, Dr. Roshan
Jaitly. Although he died a few years ago, Dr Jaitly’s spirit still watches over
his children because as a dead person he has the ability to foresee their
future. In the beginning, the three stories run parallely taking the readers
through the turn of events which eventually lead the characters to each other.
These characters from different religious groups unwittingly come to each other’s
succor, flouting prevalent suspicions for people from other religion. And
therefore, irrespective of the painful circumstances, this story is
surprisingly more uplifting than depressing.

The author has a beautiful, poetic style of writing. His prose
is fresh and captivating. In a very well-handled back and forth between past-present-future
and parallel stories of the four characters, he narrates a story that shows how
humanity and empathy triumph over mindless hatred. Without having any personal
connection with the partitions, it is commendable how he has been able to
achieve a narrative that is so soulful.

This book will appeal to most readers of fiction, and more so to
those who are interested in reading about what people went through during
partitions.

Here are a few lines quoted from the book:

“Some killing must be done. It is a
form of communication, the only kind that can cross the partitions between this
country and its neighbor, between this world and the next. Their enemies must
hear the deaths, and know rest.”

“She pauses there, filling with
admiration and adoration. The imitation-love a kind-hearted stranger is capable
of feeling for a beautiful child. Not love.”“How little we knew each other, though for
centuries our homes had shared walls. How little we will learn, now that all we
share is a border.”

“I can
almost always get a clear read on people. Each mind swims in its skull before
me like a fish in a glass bowl. But with Aisha right now…… I can’t see clearly
how she feels about Simran. The water is murky, the glass frosted.”

“It’s such a miraculous device, a voice. I never
knew how miraculous when I had one.”

Great to read a review from you after long! This book seems very interesting...may pick it up sometime. Looking forward to the kids books reviews - my son loves books too, so am always looking for some new reads for him :)